The Best Video Essays of 2021
2021 produced a lot of great video essays around pop culture. These are the ten best ones we saw all year.
Category: Film
SINGLE ALL THE WAY is surprisingly charming
The Holiday Industrial Complex at Netflix remains unexpectedly strong with the charming, quirky SINGLE ALL THE WAY.
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS: the cure for what ails the modern blockbuster
After this mindfuck of a year, it only feels fitting that we close out the film side of things not with the simple joys of resurrecting comic book characters, but with the more mind-bending and existential experience of wrestling with a revisit to The Matrix.
PIG is Nicolas Cage at his best
PIG is an unexpected delight, giving Nic Cage perhaps his finest role ever in a touching drama about a man and his pig.
Southeastern Film Critics Association chooses THE POWER OF THE DOG as Best Picture
Jane Campion’s film takes home a handful of awards including Best Director and almost sweeps the acting categories
SCARE ME is a great movie about storytelling
SCARE ME upends the expectations of the horror anthology with a smart, funny story about short, spooky stories.
BEING THE RICARDOS is a tale of two performances
I’ve had insomnia since I was young. It comes and goes, and I’ve found ways to manage or even predict it over the years. It first struck while I was about 10 years old, where I suddenly found myself with a novel issue: lots of time to kill in the …
DON’T LOOK UP is Adam McKay’s Downsizing
Forget the impending disaster, it’s already here with the arrival of Adam McKay’s terrible new comedy Don’t Look Up.
Atlanta Film Critics Circle (AFCC) selects LICORICE PIZZA as 2021’s Best Film
Other winners include Jane Campion, Benedict Cumberbatch, Drive My Car, and The Mitchells vs. The Machines
TAMMY AND THE T-REX is a New Cult Classic
TAMMY AND THE T-REX should be as beloved a cult object as THE ROOM or BIRDEMIC. This recently rediscovered gem is not to be missed.
THE POWER OF THE DOG tests the limits of masculinity
Jane Campion’s latest is a thoughtful look at masculinity in the dying old west and gives way to the best performance of its star’s career
Don’t let C’MON C’MON fly under your radar
One of this year’s best films is a black-and-white portrait of memories-in-the-making. And, no, I’m not talking about Belfast. Sure, Belfast will be a top Oscar contender – it’s a crowd-pleasing, generic film filled with Oscar-bait performances. But I’m talking about the other, better black-and-white film of this Oscar season: C’mon C’mon.
LICORICE PIZZA is this year’s best film
Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest sets the highest possible bar for cinema in 2021
Where did GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE go wrong?
GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE dropped on Netflix, and, despite a stellar cast, vanished almost immediately into the Content Hole. What went wrong?
DUNE, Decadence, and Fatness
DUNE: PART ONE is a masterpiece of science fiction. It is also part of a longstanding demonization of fatness that came to a head for me in 2021.